Local Businesses

Looking east at the Red Line tracks on Bryn Mawr.

For years Chicago’s zoning ordinance, which requires large amount of off-street car parking as part of most new residential buildings, has prevented developers from taking full advantage of transit-friendly locations. However, a transit-oriented development ordinance that passed last year lowers the required number of parking spaces for buildings near transit stations. As Steven Vance reported, Centrum Partners is proposing to build a five-to-seven-story rental building next to the Brown Line’s Paulina stop at 3400 N Lincoln Ave, which would be the first known development to take advantage of the parking minimum reduction.

The Active Transportation Alliance’s recent call for 20 Chicago streets to be considered for partial or total pedestrianization has definitely got people talking. One idea that already has a bit of traction is pedestrianizing the upscale Gold Coast nightlife area centered around three-sided Mariano Park. This district, bounded by State, Rush, and Bellvue, is nicknamed the Viagra Triangle because it’s a popular place for well-heeled older gents to take their dates, lined with upscale venues like Tavern on Rush and Gibson’s steakhouse.

[This piece also runs in Checkerboard City, John's column in Newcity magazine, which hits the streets on Wednesday evenings.]

Last year the Chicago Loop Alliance, one of the downtown chambers of commerce, rolled out several successful placemaking campaigns, activating underused public spaces in an effort to make the central business district a better place for people to hang out, relax and socialize. These included the Pop-Up Art Loop program, which turns empty storefronts into temporary galleries, the Gateway seating area in the median of State at Wacker, and Activate Couch Place, an arts event held in the eponymous alley.

Yesterday Blue Cross spokesman Michael Deering told me about how the Central Loop Bus Rapid Transit project will make it faster and easier for hundreds of the corporation’s employees to access it downtown headquarters. This morning I spoke with Peter Vilim, co-chair of the real estate investment firm Waterton Associates, about why his company supports BRT.

So far, there’s been far less noise surrounding the city’s Central Loop Bus Rapid Transit project than the Ashland BRT plan. The $32 million downtown project, bankrolled by a Federal Transit Administration grant and local tax increment financing, will include dedicated lanes on Washington, Madison, Clinton, and Canal, serving six bus routes and 1,000 buses per weekday. Features will include a new multi-modal transit center next to Union Station, larger bus shelters, level boarding, protected bike lanes on Washington and Canal, and possibly pre-paid boarding and traffic signal prioritization.

Senior mayoral advisor David Spielfogel had some disappointing quotes in yesterday’s Sun-Times, arguing that “it doesn’t make sense” to make large streets like the Mag Mile car-free. However, that doesn’t mean innovative changes to major roadways are off the table.

Yesterday’s Active Transportation Alliance announcement submitting 20 streets for consideration as partial or total car-free spaces has already sparked a lively dialogue. Stories in the Tribune, Sun-Times, ABC, and DNAinfo have all examined whether or not the automobile-dominated status quo represents an appropriate allocation of public space.